Improving the life of villagers in the Highlands of Ethiopia

Dec 2013

Ethiopia

4000 people reached

Ethiopia in East Africa is one of the poorest countries
in the world with nearly 40% of the population living
below the international poverty line. In the rural
town of Kosoru, in the Eastern Ethiopian Highlands,
UK based NGO, Tearfund and their local partner
the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church (EKHC) have
undertaken a project to provide safe drinking water
and sanitation services to the local community of
4,000 people, funded under the Borouge and
Borealis “Water for the World” programme.

The water comes from two high springs and is
piped down the mountain under gravity to two large
storage tanks above the village. From here more
pipes carry the water to feed 12 tap stands, 5
washing stands and 5 cattle troughs which are
distributed throughout the village. All the pipes have
been supplied by Excel PLC in Addis Ababa and
were produced from BorSafe™ HE3490-LS-H High
Stress Crack Resistant (HSCR) PE100 to make
them less vulnerable to failure in the stony soil.

During a visit to the village in October 2013,
Borouge’s Andy Wedgner was able to witness the
progress of the scheme and talk to the people
about the benefits it would bring to the village.

Ethiopia in East Africa is one of the poorest
countries in the world with nearly 40% of the
population living below the international poverty
line. In the rural town of Kosoru, in the Eastern
Ethiopian Highlands, UK based NGO, Tearfund
and their local partner the Ethiopian Kale Heywet
Church (EKHC) have undertaken a project to
provide safe drinking water and sanitation
services to the local community of 4,000 people,
funded under the Borouge and Borealis “Water
for the World” programme.

The Water Supply Project

The water comes from two mountain springs
which feed 12 tap stands, 5 washing stands and
5 cattle troughs distributed throughout the
extended village area. Protection tanks have been
built around the springs to reduce the possibility
of contamination and the water has been piped
down the mountain under gravity to two large
storage tanks above the village. From here more
pipes carry the water to the different access points
around the village making it much easier for the
local population to access their daily requirements.

When Borouge’s Andy Wedgner visited the
village in October 2013, around 5.5km of the
7km of PE100 pipes had already been installed.
All the pipes were supplied by Excel PLC in Addis
Ababa and were produced from BorSafe™
HE3490-LS-H High Stress Crack Resistant
(HSCR) PE100. This material was chosen as the
soil was very stony and imported backfill materials
were not available, so increasing the risk of
surface damage and point loads on the pipes.
The use of HSCR PE100 material will help to
prevent these developing into cracks. Mechanical
compression fittings are being used to connect
the pipes, the largest of which is 90mm diameter,
as it was difficult to use fusion welding equipment
in these remote areas.

The system was designed to last for at least 20
years and although it will initially serve only 4,000
people, the springs produce enough water to
supply over 10,000 people in the longer term.
Locally harvested timber was being used for fences
around the water facilities which prevent access
to the many domestic animals such as donkeys
and goats. These are built by the local community
saving money which can then be spent on other
scheme elements that cannot be produced locally.

Benefiting all the villagers

As Tamer Mohamoud told Andy:

“

I am a member
of the water committee and we are very pleased
about this project because we ladies had to fetch
water from afar, but now we have easy access
to water. We also had a lot of health problems,
which are now solved. Before, I would spend
about 3 hours every day collecting water but
now it takes no more than 15 minutes as there
are enough tap stands.

Tamer Mohamoud —Villager

Children were also collecting water now, whereas
before it was not safe for them to do so, particularly
when the weather was wet as the tracks up to
the springs were difficult and dangerous. Most
people used old cooking oil containers to collect
and store water for their households. Many of
these were 20 or 25 litres in size although the
smaller children sometimes used 10 litre
containers. As Hussein Ahmadhi told Andy:

“

In
the past we have had many problems like broken
bones where people fell down carrying the heavy
water containers coming down from the springs
and women have problem walking to the water
source at night. We thank you for this as we hear
about many water points being built with a poor
quality - but this quality is good.

Hussein Ahmadhi —Villager

The villagers carry these heavy containers on
their back, tied in place with a Gemed, which is
like a scarf, so it was easy to see how people
could slip and have accidents on the steep tracks
up to the springs.

A better future secured for all

The scheme has four caretakers who are being
trained in the repair and maintenance of the
system and each tap stand has a water attendant,
one lady who also helps to look after the system.
Together with the establishment of a village water
committee responsible for the management of
the scheme and the collection of a small charge
from each household, these arrangements
should help secure the long term sustainability
of the scheme. As one of the caretakers, Ahmed
Sayed, told Andy:

“

I have seen other crews
coming from companies and government but
the work they did has not lasted. The team from
EKHC are different. They undertake the work
properly, are disciplined, they don’t drink or chew
khat and show respect for the villagers and set
a good example for us.